


Debt

by hoomhum



Category: The Hobbit (Jackson Movies), The Hobbit - All Media Types, The Hobbit - J. R. R. Tolkien
Genre: Family, Feelings of indebtedness, Gen, M/M, Mention of Parent Death, Miscommunication
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-01
Updated: 2018-01-01
Packaged: 2019-02-26 01:30:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,617
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13225353
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hoomhum/pseuds/hoomhum
Summary: Nori doesn't like to owe anybody. Dwalin isn't used to keeping score.





	Debt

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Judayre](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Judayre/gifts).



> Hope you like this! Happy New Year!

The first time he met Dwalin son of Fundin, he was running  _to_  the guard and not from it, which made the incident notable in its own right. 

He sprinted, light on his feet and grateful that his frame was slim enough to slip through the crowded market, heading for the royal residences and hoping that he'd made the right choice. There was no reason that Thorin Oakenshield and the refugees he had brought to Ered Luin should give a damn about the dwarves that had lived there before them, such a small percentage of the population that they were, but the Lords had given Oakenshield this forsaken mountain range and there was no one else to turn to for help.

If he weren't in such a panicked rush, he might have found humor in the way that he smacked full speed into a very mountain of a dwarf and bounced back hard enough to lose his footing. As it was, his knees barely hit the stone before he was back up again and trying to run, only for the dwarf to hold him back, effortlessly.

"I need to see Oakenshield," he said breathlessly, considering and immediately discarding the idea of breaking this dwarf's very fine looking nose. Doing so probably wouldn't win him the favor he was seeking. "Or his damned guard, the peacekeepers-- whoever!"

Before Thorin Oakenshield moved in, the settlement was too small for any formal guard or even leadership. It was growing now, into something new, something that might almost be called prosperous in the right light. There were opportunities now, when before there had been none. 

"Easy," the dwarf said, demeanor calm and stoic. That calmness just made Nori rage further. "What is it that--"

"I don't have time to explain," he snapped, twisting out of the guard's grip. "He's going to take my brother! My little brother, my Ori, and the longer I'm gone, the more likely Dori's going to kill him for it!"

Nori's chest was heaving, frustration and anger, streaming off of him with every word. Karta had been happy to ignore his sons for almost half a century, to pretend they didn't exist, and that had been fine. Their little family of four had gotten along without him perfectly. So why had the bastard come swanning back six months after they'd laid their mam into the stone, wanting custody of Ori?

He'd have stayed, honestly, would have helped Dori strangle the bastard, if it weren't for the fact that doing so would ruin their own chances at custody. At seventy-five, Nori was his own dwarf, but sweet Ori had barely passed his forties. He'd be taken from them in an instant if they were proven unsuitable. 

The dwarf in front of him, a tall fellow with an even taller crest of hair down the center of his head and two gleaming axes strapped to his back, said nothing for a moment. Nori made to push past him again, but was stopped by a firm hand.

"Show me," the dwarf growled. "Explain on the way."

~

After the business with Karta, which had been dismissed with an agreeable lack of killing on all sides, Nori did all he could to learn about the dwarven guard that had put out that fire. Dwalin son of Fundin hadn't even drawn an axe that night, which had been something of a surprise. Instead he had advised Karta to petition for joint custody and heavily implied that such a request would be denied because of the accounts of three close witnesses, who claimed he'd never shown any interest before partial ownership of the tailor shop had become a factor. Nevertheless, he invited Karta to take his complaint to Oakenshield himself and escorted the dwarf from the shop.

Both grateful and intrigued, Nori made quiet inquiries both about their new Lord Oakenshield and the dwarf that headed his guard. 

It was some months before their paths crossed again, in a quiet pub in a better part of town than Nori really had reason to wander. 

"How's your brother?" 

He jumped slightly, surprised that the burly dwarf had even noticed his presence beside him. He slid onto the bar stool and waved off the barmaid when she came looking for his order.

"Which one?" Instead he grabbed at Dwalin's cup and had a long swig of it. From the corner of his eye he watched the dwarf's reaction, curious to see the guard off-footed. "Fine, both of them. Ori's starting to get underfoot. The boy needs a craft."

Dwalin merely shook his head and snatched the cup back. He drained it in one go, then set it down and gestured for another. Nori took that as invitation to linger and settled more comfortably on his stool.

"I'm not here to talk about my brothers," he said, once the serving maid had come and gone again. This wasn't a friendly chat, after all. This was business. One kind turn deserved another. He'd repay Dwalin for settling their family dispute and be done with it. "You lot have made waves here. Your Oakenshield, I mean."

Dwalin's lips turned in a snarl, changing from the easy expression he'd worn in an instant. "If you've complaints about Thorin--"

"Not me," Nori interrupted quickly, holding up both hands. Curious he might be about the nature of this dwarf, curious enough to steal his drink, he wasn't truly trying to test him. "But there are others. Them who might not lodge a complaint and be done."

Dwalin turned, nudging the full cup over and facing him fully. "What would those names cost me?"

Shrugging, Nori accepted the mead. "Just this."

~

That was to be the end of it, with his debt repaid, but somehow it wasn't.  Ori was offered an apprenticeship under Balin, son of Fundin later that year, easing the financial burden on the Ri household and offering the youngest brother a future beyond weaving and sewing. Nori passed Dwalin in the halls several times a week, on the way to or from escorting Ori to his lessons. He didn't catch the dwarf's gaze, uncertain of his intentions. They'd been even, hadn't they? But now they weren't even any longer. 

When winter turned harsh and coin was tight, Balin suggested that Ori take both lunch and dinner with him during his lessons. They weren't even, and Nori was more uncertain than ever. 

When Lady Dis' sons, Fili and Kili, needed new clothes, they went to the Ri shop and donated their older things: tunics and trousers that would fit Ori with just a few adjustments. Dis was close friends with Dwalin, which only made Nori wonder.

He wondered, and then he banished the thought. Who was he to feel bothered by these attentions? If anything was meant by them, nothing would happen until Ori came of age, and even then nothing would happen without the lad's consent. Besides, Ori had found a love for words. He wouldn't look twice at a warrior, and if he did, Nori ought to be happy that his brother was able to make such a fine match.

He wasn't happy, though, and they weren't even.

~

"Here." Nori dropped a leather bound journal bearing a lord's seal onto Dwalin's desk. He raised a brow but didn't move away when Dwalin pulled an axe on him in return. That was fair, he thought. The captain of the guard obviously hadn't been expecting anyone to enter his locked office; especially by means other than the door. Dwalin lowered the axe after a moment and focused his attention instead upon the journal. "Proof the guildheads are scheming to undermine Oakenshield." 

He sauntered around the desk, doing his best to exude confidence, and pulled a knife free from his jacket. He started to clean his nails with it. 

"That's us even," he said, stating it as a fact. He probably couldn't menace a dwarf like Dwalin, but he could stand his ground on this. "We don't owe you squat. Now stay away from my little brother until he's of age, yeah?"

The journal hit the desk with a thud as Dwalin dropped it again. 

"Ori?" There was really no call for the amount of confusion in Dwalin's voice. Nori kept still as the other dwarf moved around the desk to stand in front of him; his gaze didn't leave the knife in his hand. "You think I mean to court your brother?"

"Why else would you do all those favors for us?" Nori demanded, giving in and meeting his gaze. "His apprenticeship and Lady Dis' commissions?"

Dwalin shook his head. Nori's eyes were drawn once again to his long, handsome nose and well defined brow. "Your family earned those things by their own merit. Balin was impressed by Ori's diligence, and Dis by you and your brother's skills. They weren't favors."

Slowly, carefully, Dwalin captured the wrist that held the knife. He then disarmed Nori, setting the blade down on the desk. "That I got to better know your family and see you more often because of it was only coincidence." 

Nori could feel a flush heating his skin, warming his neck and chest. The heat moved quickly up to his ears as Dwalin spoke. 

"In fact, if this journal holds what you say, then I am the one indebted to you," he went on. His thumb, most distractingly, smoothed over the inside of Nori's wrist, where he held him with a light grip. "How can I repay you?"

Nori watched him for a moment, calculating, before leaning up on his toes. He pressed their lips together and smiled into what he hoped was the first of many kisses. "Just this."


End file.
